Display panel, manufacturing method thereof and display device

Abstract

The application discloses a display panel, a manufacturing method thereof and a display device. The display panel comprises a substrate, a pixel definition layer, a light emitting unit and a partition structure. The partition structure is located in a non-opening area and is arranged on the pixel definition layer. The partition structure is used for partitioning the bottom electrode of two adjacent light emitting units when the bottom electrode is deposited in a whole surface. The partition structure comprises a partition upper part and a partition lower part. The partition upper part is arranged on the partition lower part, and the radial width of the partition upper part is greater than that of the partition lower part. The application sets the partition structure, so that the bottom electrode in the light emitting unit is deposited in a whole surface through the partition structure without etching steps. The possibility of oxidation or process residue of the active metal in the bottom electrode in the process is reduced, the light emitting efficiency of the light emitting unit is improved, and the quality of the display panel is improved.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present application relates to the technical field of display, in particular to a display panel, a manufacturing method thereof and a display device. BACKGROUND

[0002] OLED (Organic Light Emitting Diode) display devices are widely used in various fields due to their lightness, wide viewing angle, fast response, low temperature resistance, high luminous efficiency, and the ability to produce curved flexible display screens. Due to the increasing maturity of mass production technology, OLED display panels have gradually become mainstream reality panels.

[0003] Existing organic light emitting display panels mainly include two types. One is a normal organic light emitting display panel, wherein the light emitting unit in the normal organic light emitting display panel includes an anode, a light emitting functional layer and a cathode which are sequentially stacked on a substrate. The other is an inverted organic light emitting display panel, which includes a cathode, a light emitting functional layer and an anode which are sequentially stacked on a substrate. In the normal organic light emitting display panel, the active metal in the cathode is easily eroded by water and oxygen, which reduces the service life of the display panel. For the inverted organic light emitting display panel, the active metal in the cathode is also easily oxidized or has process residues during the process, which reduces the light emitting efficiency of the inverted organic light emitting display panel. Therefore, there is an urgent need in the art for a solution to the above problems. SUMMARY

[0004] The purpose of the present application is to provide a display panel, a manufacturing method thereof and a display device. By providing a partition structure, the bottom electrode in the light emitting unit is deposited through the partition structure, and no etching step is needed, which reduces the possibility of oxidation or process residues of the active metal in the bottom electrode during the process, improves the light emitting efficiency of the light emitting unit, and improves the quality of the display panel.

[0005] The application discloses a display panel, which comprises a substrate, a pixel definition layer and a light-emitting unit. The pixel definition layer is arranged on the substrate and is provided with a plurality of openings. The position of the opening is an opening area. The light-emitting unit is arranged on the substrate and is located in the opening area. The display panel further comprises a partition structure. The partition structure is located in a non-opening area and is arranged on the pixel definition layer. The light-emitting unit comprises a bottom electrode, a light-emitting functional layer and a top electrode. The bottom electrode is arranged on the substrate. The light-emitting functional layer is arranged on the bottom electrode. The top electrode is arranged on the light-emitting functional layer. The partition structure is used to partition the bottom electrodes of two adjacent light-emitting units when the bottom electrode is deposited in a whole surface. The partition structure comprises a partition upper part and a partition lower part. The partition upper part is arranged on the partition lower part. The radial width of the partition upper part is greater than that of the partition lower part.

[0006] Optionally, the partition lower part is formed of insulating material, which comprises one or more of silicon oxide, silicon nitride or silicon oxynitride. The partition lower part is used to insulate the bottom electrodes of two adjacent light-emitting units. In each opening area, the end of the bottom electrode is covered by the light-emitting functional layer. The light-emitting functional layer is used to separate the end of the bottom electrode from the end of the top electrode.

[0007] Optionally, the partition upper part is formed of metal material, which comprises one or more of aluminum, copper, molybdenum and titanium. The partition upper part is used to connect the top electrodes of two adjacent light-emitting units.

[0008] Optionally, the thickness of the bottom electrode is greater than or equal to 100 angstrom and less than or equal to 300 angstrom. The thickness of the partition lower part is between 0.05 um and 0.2 um. The thickness of the partition upper part is between 0.03 um and 0.1 um. On the side of the partition structure close to the opening area, the distance between the partition upper part and the partition lower part is between 0.1 um and 1 um.

[0009] Optionally, the bottom electrode is a light-transmitting electrode, which is formed of one or both of magnesium material and silver material. The top electrode is formed of reflective metal material. The top electrode is shared by a plurality of light-emitting units. The light-emitting direction of the light-emitting unit is from the top electrode to the bottom electrode. The top electrode is an anode. The bottom electrode is a cathode. The light-emitting functional layer comprises an electron transport layer, a light-emitting layer and a hole transport layer. The electron transport layer is arranged on the cathode. The light-emitting layer is arranged on the electron transport layer. The hole transport layer is arranged on the light-emitting layer. The anode is arranged on the hole transport layer.

[0010] Optionally, the partition structure is further configured to partition the light-emitting functional layer and the cathode of two adjacent light-emitting units when the light-emitting functional layer is deposited on the whole surface; and the cathode covers the light-emitting functional layer in each opening region, and the end of the cathode further contacts the lower partition.

[0011] The application further discloses a manufacturing method of the display panel.

[0012] A substrate is provided.

[0013] A pixel definition layer is formed on the substrate, and the pixel definition layer is patterned to form a plurality of opening regions.

[0014] A partition structure is formed on the pixel definition layer.

[0015] A bottom electrode material is deposited on the whole surface, and the partition structure is configured to partition the bottom electrode of two adjacent light-emitting units.

[0016] A light-emitting functional layer and a top electrode are sequentially formed in the opening regions to form a plurality of light-emitting units.

[0017] The partition structure comprises an upper partition and a lower partition, the upper partition is arranged on the lower partition, the radial width of the upper partition is greater than the radial width of the lower partition, and the bottom electrode and the light-emitting functional layer are manufactured in the same vacuum environment.

[0018] Optionally, the lower partition is formed of insulating material, and the insulating material comprises one or more of silicon oxide, silicon nitride or silicon oxynitride; and the upper partition is formed of metal material, and the metal material comprises one or more of aluminum, copper, molybdenum and titanium.

[0019] The application further discloses a display device comprising a driving circuit and the display panel.

[0020] The application utilizes the partition structure to partition the bottom electrodes of the plurality of light-emitting units when the bottom electrodes of the light-emitting units are formed, so that the bottom electrodes of the plurality of light-emitting units are not connected to each other. In the process of forming the bottom electrodes, the etching process is not needed to remove the excess bottom electrode material, and the next process of the light-emitting functional layer can be directly performed after the whole surface deposition of the bottom electrodes, thereby reducing the influence of the etching process on the bottom electrodes. Especially when the bottom electrode comprises active metal material, the problems of oxidation and residue of the active metal in the etching process are avoided, the film layer interface between the bottom electrode and the light-emitting functional layer is improved, the light-emitting efficiency of the light-emitting unit is improved, and the display effect of the display panel is improved. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0021] The accompanying drawings, which are included to provide a further understanding of the embodiments and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this application, illustrate embodiments of the application and together with the description serve to explain the principles of the application. It will be appreciated that the drawings are merely meant to be illustrative and that other drawings could be derived from these drawings by a person of ordinary skill in the art without paying creative labor. In the drawings:

[0022] Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of a display panel of a first embodiment of the present application;

[0023] Figure 2 is a schematic diagram of a display panel of a first embodiment of the present application; Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of a cross section along the cutting line AA;

[0024] Figure 3 is a schematic diagram of a light emitting unit of the present application;

[0025] Figure 4 is a schematic diagram of a partition structure of the present application;

[0026] Figure 5 is a schematic diagram of a second display panel of the present application;

[0027] Figure 6 is a schematic diagram of a manufacturing method of a display panel of the present application;

[0028] Figure 7 is a schematic diagram of a manufacturing process of a display panel of the present application;

[0029] Figure 8 is a schematic diagram of a display device of the present application.

[0030] Wherein, 100, display panel; 101, opening area; 102, non-opening area; 110, substrate; 120, pixel definition layer; 130, light emitting unit; 131, anode; 132, light emitting functional layer; 1321, electron transport layer; 1322, light emitting layer; 1323, hole transport layer; 1324, electron injection layer; 1325, hole blocking layer; 1326, electron blocking layer; 1327, hole injection layer; 133, cathode; 134, cathode auxiliary electrode; 135, cathode redundancy; 140, partition structure; 141, partition upper part; 142, partition lower part; 150, driving circuit layer; 200, display device; 210, driving circuit. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0031] It should be understood that the terms used herein, the specific structures and functional details disclosed, are only for the purpose of describing specific embodiments, and are representative, but the present application can be embodied in many alternative forms, and should not be interpreted as being limited to the embodiments described herein.

[0032] In the description of the present application, the terms "first", "second" are only for the purpose of description, and cannot be understood as indicating relative importance, or implying the number of the indicated technical features. Therefore, unless otherwise specified, the features defined with "first", "second" can explicitly or implicitly include one or more of the features; the meaning of "multiple" is two or more. In addition, the terms indicating the orientation or position relationship such as "up", "down", "left", "right", "vertical", "horizontal", etc. are described based on the orientation or relative position relationship shown in the drawings, only for the convenience of the simplified description of the present application, and cannot be understood as indicating that the indicated device or element must have a specific orientation, be constructed and operated in a specific orientation, and therefore cannot be understood as limiting the present application. For those of ordinary skill in the art, the specific meaning of the above terms in the present application can be understood according to the specific circumstances.

[0033] The present application will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings and optional embodiments.

[0034] Figure 1 is a schematic view of a display panel of the first embodiment of the present application, Figure 2 is Figure 1 is a schematic view of a cross section along the cutting line AA, see Figures 1-2 As shown in the figure, the present application discloses a display panel, the display panel 100 comprises a substrate 110, a pixel definition layer 120 and a light emitting unit 130, the pixel definition layer 120 is arranged on the substrate 110, and is provided with a plurality of openings, the position of the opening is an opening area 101, the light emitting unit 130 is arranged on the substrate 110 and located in the opening area 101, the display panel 100 further comprises a partition structure 140, the partition structure 140 is located in a non-opening area 102 and arranged on the pixel definition layer 120; the light emitting unit 130 comprises a bottom electrode, a light emitting functional layer 132 and a top electrode, the bottom electrode is arranged on the substrate 110, the light emitting functional layer 132 is arranged on the bottom electrode, and the top electrode is arranged on the light emitting functional layer 132; the partition structure 140 is used to partition the bottom electrodes of two adjacent light emitting units 130 when the bottom electrode is deposited in a whole surface; wherein the partition structure 140 comprises a partition upper part 141 and a partition lower part 142, the partition upper part 141 is arranged on the partition lower part 142, and the radial width of the partition upper part 141 is greater than the radial width of the partition lower part 142.

[0035] The application utilizes the partition structure 140 to partition the bottom electrodes of the plurality of light emitting units 130 when forming the bottom electrodes of the light emitting units 130, so that the bottom electrodes of the plurality of light emitting units 130 are not connected to each other. In the process of forming the bottom electrodes, the excess bottom electrode material does not need to be removed by etching process, and the next process of forming the light emitting functional layer 132 can be directly performed after the bottom electrode is deposited on the whole surface, thereby reducing the influence of the etching process on the bottom electrode. In particular, when the bottom electrode includes active metal material, the problems of oxidation and residue of the active metal in the etching process are avoided, the film layer interface between the bottom electrode and the light emitting functional layer 132 is improved, the light emitting efficiency of the light emitting unit 130 is improved, and the display effect of the display panel 100 is improved.

[0036] Specifically, the partition lower part 142 in the partition structure 140 in the application is formed of insulating material including one or more of silicon oxide, silicon nitride or silicon oxynitride; the partition lower part is used to insulate the bottom electrodes of two adjacent light emitting units.

[0037] The partition lower part 142 of the partition structure 140 in the embodiment is formed of insulating material, so that the lower part of the partition structure 140 has high insulation performance, so that when the bottom electrode is deposited on the whole surface, even if the evaporation angle is not controlled, the bottom electrode material will not be electrically connected when it contacts the partition lower part 142, and the bottom electrodes of two adjacent light emitting units 130 are insulated by the partition lower part 142. Moreover, by controlling the evaporation angle of the bottom electrode material, the bottom electrode material is as little as possible to contact the partition lower part 142, and the insulation property of the partition lower part 142 prevents the electrical crosstalk between the bottom electrodes of adjacent light emitting units 130.

[0038] Specifically, the partition structure 140 is arranged around the opening area 101, and when the bottom electrode is formed, the bottom electrode is formed in the opening area 101 by the whole surface evaporation process, and the bottom electrode redundant part is formed on the partition structure 140, which is partitioned from the bottom electrode by the partition structure 140. Specifically, the bottom electrode redundant part is arranged on the partition upper part 141, and due to the width of the partition lower part 142 on the side of the partition structure 140, the bottom electrode material cannot continuously extend, so it is partitioned by the partition structure 140. Because the partition lower part with insulation property is arranged, when the film layers such as the bottom electrode and the light emitting functional layer are formed subsequently, even if the film layer is lapped with the partition lower part, there will be no problem of conductive crosstalk.

[0039] It is worth mentioning that the display panel 100 in this embodiment is a bottom-emitting display panel 100, wherein the bottom electrode is a light-transmitting electrode, the top electrode is formed of a reflective metal material, and the multiple light-emitting units 130 share the top electrode. In this embodiment, the top electrode is a high-reflectivity opaque electrode, and the bottom electrode is a light-transmitting electrode, so that all the light emitted by the light-emitting functional layer 132 is emitted from the bottom electrode, and the light emitted by the light-emitting unit 130 is emitted from one side of the substrate 110.

[0040] In this embodiment, the bottom electrode is patterned using the partition structure 140, and the light-emitting functional layer 132 is formed directly after the bottom electrode is patterned. This reduces other steps in the fabrication process of the bottom electrode and the light-emitting functional layer 132, such as etching steps, and greatly improves the film interface between the bottom electrode and the light-emitting functional layer 132. More importantly, the fabrication processes of the bottom electrode and the light-emitting functional layer 132 can be completed in the same vacuum environment, reducing film layer problems between the bottom electrode and the light-emitting functional layer 132.

[0041] The bottom-emitting display panel 100 also has the advantage of not requiring the top electrode to emit light. The thickness of the top electrode can be large, and it can be formed on a single surface. All light-emitting units 130 share a single surface of reflective metal material as the top electrode. Compared to the top electrode formed by indium tin oxide in the top-emitting display panel 100, the impedance drop is lower, and the components at different positions are more uniform, avoiding voltage differences at different positions. Moreover, since the emitted light from the light-emitting unit 130 does not need to pass through the subsequent encapsulation layer after the manufacturing process is completed, there is greater selectivity in the materials and processes of the encapsulation layer, allowing for better encapsulation of the light-emitting unit 130.

[0042] Figure 3 This is a schematic diagram of the light-emitting unit of this application, see [link / reference]. Figure 3 As shown, specifically, in order to further improve the luminous efficiency of the bottom-emitting display panel 100, this embodiment reverses the luminous functional layer 132. Specifically, the top electrode is the anode 131, and the bottom electrode is the cathode 133; the luminous functional layer 132 includes an electron transport layer 1321, a luminous layer 1322, and a hole transport layer 1323. The electron transport layer 1321 is disposed on the cathode 133, the luminous layer 1322 is disposed on the electron transport layer 1321, the hole transport layer 1323 is disposed on the luminous layer 1322, and the anode 131 is disposed on the hole transport layer 1323.

[0043] The electron transport layer 1321 in the embodiment is connected with the cathode 133 through the electron injection layer 1324, and the hole blocking layer 1325 is further arranged between the electron transport layer 1321 and the light-emitting layer 1322. The hole transport layer 1323 is connected with the anode 131 through the hole injection layer 1327, and the electron blocking layer 1326 is further arranged between the hole transport layer 1323 and the light-emitting layer 1322. The inverted light-emitting functional layer 132 means that the electron transport layer 1321 is arranged on the side close to the cathode 133, and the hole transport layer 1323 is arranged on the side close to the anode 131. This is completely opposite to the light-emitting functional layer 132 in the light-emitting unit 130 of the normal organic light-emitting display panel 100. Relatively speaking, when the bottom light-emitting display panel 100 uses the light-emitting functional layer 132 as a normal scheme, due to the low light-emitting efficiency, and the influence of the pixel driving layer opening of the bottom light-emitting display panel 100, the light-emitting efficiency of the bottom light-emitting display panel 100 with the normal light-emitting functional layer 132 is extremely low, which is not suitable for display. However, for the inverted bottom light-emitting display panel 100, the light-emitting efficiency is affected by the work function of the anode 131 and the cathode 133. Generally, the work function of the anode 131 needs to be relatively high, and the work function of the cathode 133 needs to be relatively low. When the anode 131 is selected as a reflective electrode, and the cathode 133 is selected as a light-transmitting electrode, due to the characteristics of the materials, the work function of the anode 131 is relatively low, and the work function of the cathode 133 is relatively high, which causes the light-emitting efficiency of the inverted bottom light-emitting display panel 100 to be relatively low.

[0044] To this end, in the embodiment, the cathode 133 is formed by one or both of magnesium material and silver material, and the active metal is used to form the cathode 133, and the active metal is thinned to realize the light-transmitting capability. The indium tin oxide (ITO) or indium zinc oxide (IZO) material with a relatively high work function is added in the anode 131, for example, a layer of ITO or IZO material is formed on the anode 131, to increase the work function of the anode 131.

[0045] In the case of adding active metal in the cathode 133, two aspects need to be considered, the first aspect needs to consider the light transmission of the active metal, the transmission of the metal is related to its lattice structure, which refers to the arrangement of metal atoms in a specific pattern. When the lattice structure of the metal is tight enough, there is not enough space for photons to pass through, and the metal will show opaque characteristics. If the thickness of the metal is reduced to a certain extent, the photons can pass through the lattice structure of the metal, making the metal light-transmitting. Another solution needs to consider the work function, while considering the light transmission to set the thickness, the work function also needs to be considered, and its thickness also affects the work function. Generally, the cathode 133 is formed by using active metal material, taking magnesium or silver as an example, the thickness of the cathode 133 needs to be smaller than the thickness of the reflective metal layer in the anode 131, in order to achieve higher light-emitting efficiency. However, when the active metal material used in the cathode 133 is thin, for example, in 100 angstrom to 300 angstrom, the deposition and etching steps in the process are prone to oxidation; in the etching process, there are also problems such as photoresist residue and etching, which will affect the work function of the cathode 133, thereby causing the light-emitting efficiency of the inverted bottom light-emitting display panel 100 to be low.

[0046] Therefore, when the thickness of the bottom electrode, i.e. the cathode 133, of the present embodiment is greater than or equal to 100 angstrom and less than or equal to 300 angstrom, the isolation effect of the isolation structure 140 makes the cathode 133 form multiple independent and non-communicating cathodes 133 without etching, so that the cathodes 133 of adjacent light-emitting units 130 are completely isolated. Even if part of the cathode redundant portion 135, i.e. the above-mentioned bottom electrode redundant portion, is formed on the isolation structure 140, the part of the cathode redundant portion 135 and the cathode 133 can also be disconnected to prevent current crosstalk. Moreover, most importantly, the process of the bottom electrode and the process of the light-emitting functional layer 132 can be completed in the same vacuum environment, reducing the film layer problem between the bottom electrode and the light-emitting functional layer 132. The cathode 133 formed by using active metal material in the present embodiment can reduce the work function of the cathode 133 to improve the imbalance between hole injection and electron injection in the inverted organic light-emitting display panel 100, solving the problem of low light-emitting efficiency of the current inverted organic light-emitting display panel 100.

[0047] Specifically, the anode 131 is formed by depositing a reflective metal material all over, and the plurality of light-emitting units 130 share the anode 131; in order to match the work function of the cathode 133 and the light-emitting functional layer 132, the anode 131 of the present embodiment can first form a thin layer of indium tin oxide material by sputtering process, with a thickness of about 0.01mm to 0.1mm, and then vacuum evaporate a high-reflectivity reflective metal material, which can generally be silver material, and the thickness of the reflective metal material of the anode 131 is much thicker than the active metal material in the cathode 133.

[0048] Of course, the scheme of the present application can also be applied to a top emission display panel 100. For the top emission display panel 100, the bottom electrode of the display panel 100 is formed by a reflective electrode, and can also be deposited through the partition structure 140 of the present application, so that the etching process is not required. For example, the bottom electrode is formed by a light-proof high reflective electrode, and the top electrode is formed by a light-proof electrode. The bottom electrode is the anode 131, and the top electrode is the cathode 133. The patterned bottom electrode is directly formed through the partition structure 140, and does not need to be formed before the pixel definition layer 120.

[0049] Figure 4 is a schematic view of the partition structure of the present application. As shown in Figure 4 Specifically, the thickness h1 of the partition lower portion 142 is between 0.05um and 0.2um, and the thickness h2 of the partition upper portion 141 is between 0.03um and 0.1um. The partition effect of the partition structure 140 of the present embodiment also depends on the thickness of the partition lower portion 142 and the partition upper portion 141. When the overall thickness of the partition structure 140 is thin, the cathode 133 cannot be partitioned by the partition structure 140 when the cathode 133 is deposited by evaporation, because the thickness of the cathode 133 exceeds the overall thickness of the partition structure 140. In order to avoid the electrical connection between the cathode 133 and the cathode redundancy portion 135, the thickness of the partition structure 140 also needs to be limited. When the thickness of the cathode 133 is between 0.01um and 0.03um, the thickness of the partition structure 140 is at least equal to 0.03um. Of course, in order to further consider the partition effect of the partition structure 140, the thickness of the partition lower portion 142 is set to be at least equal to 0.05um. When the thickness of the partition structure 140 is too thick, the anode 131 will also be partitioned during the formation of the anode 131. Therefore, the thickness of the partition lower portion 142 is less than or equal to 0.2um. For the partition upper portion 141, the thickness of the partition upper portion 141 is mainly related to the material. When the thickness of the partition upper portion 141 is thick, the etching is not conducive.

[0050] Specifically, the material of the lower part 142 and the material of the upper part 141 are first separated, a patterned photoresist material is arranged to protect the position of the separation structure 140, the upper part 141 is etched, the upper part 141 of the non-opening area 102 is reserved, the lower part 142 is etched by using the upper part 141 as a protection layer, for example, an isotropic dry etching process is used to etch the lower part 142, in this process, the lower part 142 will be side etched, so that the width of the lower part 142 is smaller than the width of the upper part 141, and the separation structure 140 is formed. In this process, the upper part 141 and the lower part 142 need to use different materials, so that when the lower part 142 is etched, the upper part 141 will not be etched, and the upper part 141 will not be affected.

[0051] Specifically, the distance w between the upper part 141 and the lower part 142 of the separation structure 140 near the opening area 101 is between 0.05um and 1um. Wherein, the distance of the embodiment refers to the distance between the projection edge of the upper part 141 and the projection edge of the lower part 142 on the orthographic projection of the substrate 110.

[0052] In this embodiment, the distance between the upper part 141 and the lower part 142 of the separation structure 140 will affect the distance between the cathode 133 and the lower part 142 when the cathode 133 is separated. When the distance between the upper part 141 and the lower part 142 is greater, the corresponding edge of the cathode 133 is farther away from the lower part 142. During the patterning process of the cathode 133, the cathode 133 will not be connected to the lower part 142 or the upper part 141, and by controlling the evaporation angle, the cathode redundancy part 135 of the upper part 141 is only at the edge position of the upper part 141.

[0053] It is worth mentioning that, especially when the separation structure 140 is not only used to separate the cathode 133, but also used to separate one or more layers of the light-emitting functional layer 132, such as one or more of the electron injection layer 1324, the electron transport layer 1321, the hole blocking layer 1325, the light-emitting layer 1322, the electron blocking layer 1326, the hole transport layer 1323 and the hole injection layer 1327 arranged step by step from the substrate 110 upwards. At this time, the thickness between the upper part 141 and the lower part 142 also needs to meet the separation function of the above-mentioned film layer, and by arranging the insulating lower part 142, the problem of crosstalk between the above-mentioned film layers of the adjacent two light-emitting units 130 can be prevented, and the insulating effect is achieved.

[0054] The material of the partition upper portion 141 can be metal material in addition to the insulating material, which includes one or more of aluminum, copper, molybdenum, and titanium.

[0055] In this embodiment, considering that the anode 131 is deposited on the whole surface, when one or more layers of the light-emitting functional layer 132 are partitioned, the anode 131 can be partially or completely partitioned when formed. In this case, the partition upper portion 141 is made of metal material and has certain conductivity. When the anode 131 is partially or completely partitioned, the partition upper portion 141 connects the anode 131, so that the anode 131 does not have a partition that causes electrical connection failure or abnormal resistance. Of course, to avoid the partition of the anode 131, the thickness of the anode 131 can be increased, so that the thickness of the anode 131 is sufficient,

[0056] Specifically, when the partition upper portion 141 is made of metal material, the thickness of the partition upper portion 141 is between 0.03 um and 0.1 um. The thickness of the partition upper portion 141 can be set to be large, for example, 0.1 um. In the process of forming the anode 131, even if the anode 131 is partitioned by the partition structure 140, the conductive partition upper portion 141 can be used to connect the anode 131. That is, the partition upper portion is also used to connect the top electrodes (anodes) of two adjacent light-emitting units.

[0057] It is worth mentioning that in each opening area, the cathode covers the light-emitting functional layer, and the end of the cathode also contacts the partition lower portion. In this embodiment, the partition structure has the partitioning capability, which can partition the cathode, the light-emitting functional layer, and the anode. In the process of partitioning the light-emitting functional layer, the light-emitting functional layer cannot contact the partition upper portion, and in the process of partitioning the anode, the anode needs to be partially in contact with the partition lower portion.

[0058] In another embodiment, in each opening area, the end of the bottom electrode is covered by the light-emitting functional layer, and the light-emitting functional layer is used to separate the end of the bottom electrode and the end of the top electrode. The evaporation angle of the bottom electrode and the light-emitting functional layer during evaporation can be controlled to cover the end of the bottom electrode with the light-emitting functional layer, so as to avoid the situation that the top electrode directly contacts the bottom electrode at the end of the bottom electrode due to the accumulation of the material of the top electrode during the formation of the top electrode, thereby solving the problem of short circuit when the bottom electrode and the top electrode are formed by the partition structure.

[0059] Figure 5 FIG. 2 is a schematic view of a second display panel according to the present application, which is similar to FIG. 1 and will not be described in detail. Figure 5As shown, specifically, the display panel 100 of the present application further comprises a cathode auxiliary electrode 134 formed of a transparent metal oxide material, which is arranged below the cathode 133 and electrically connected with the cathode 133; the cathode auxiliary electrodes 134 of two adjacent light emitting units 130 are separated by the pixel definition layer 120.

[0060] In the embodiment, the cathode auxiliary electrode 134 is mainly connected with the pixel active switch in the driving circuit layer 150 through the via hole, and it can be understood that the driving circuit layer 150 is also arranged on the substrate 110, which generally comprises the pixel driving circuit of the light emitting unit 130, such as the pixel active switch (thin film transistor), data driving line, scanning control line, etc. The cathode 133 of each light emitting unit 130 is connected to the pixel active switch through the cathode auxiliary electrode 134, and the voltage of the cathode 133 is controlled through the pixel active switch.

[0061] The cathode auxiliary electrode 134 can be formed of one or both of indium tin oxide (ITO) or indium zinc oxide (IZO), which is a metal material with a light transmittance of more than 90%. The cathode auxiliary electrode 134 can further improve the light emitting efficiency of the inverted bottom light emitting display panel 100, and the work function matching between the cathode 133 and the anode 131 can be more easily achieved through the combination of the cathode 133 and the cathode auxiliary electrode 134.

[0062] Figure 6 is a schematic diagram of the manufacturing process of the display panel of the present application, Figure 7 is a schematic diagram of the manufacturing process of the display panel of the present application, referring to Figures 6 to 7 As shown, the present application further discloses a manufacturing method of a display panel, comprising the steps of:

[0063] S110: providing a substrate;

[0064] S120: forming a pixel definition layer on the substrate and patterning the pixel definition layer to form a plurality of opening regions;

[0065] S130: forming a partition structure on the pixel definition layer;

[0066] S140: depositing a bottom electrode material on the whole surface, and the partition structure is used to separate the bottom electrodes of two adjacent light emitting units;

[0067] S150: sequentially forming a light emitting functional layer and a top electrode in the opening regions to form a plurality of light emitting units;

[0068] The partition structure 140 includes a partition upper portion 141 and a partition lower portion 142, the partition upper portion 141 is arranged on the partition lower portion 142, and the radial width of the partition upper portion 141 is greater than the radial width of the partition lower portion 142. The bottom electrode and the light-emitting functional layer are made in the same vacuum environment.

[0069] In the embodiment, the partition lower portion 142 is formed of insulating material, and the insulating material includes one or more of silicon oxide, silicon nitride, or silicon oxynitride; and the partition upper portion 141 is formed of metal material, and the metal material includes one or more of aluminum, copper, molybdenum, and titanium.

[0070] The application uses the partition structure 140 to partition the bottom electrodes of the plurality of light-emitting units 130 when the bottom electrodes of the light-emitting units 130 are formed, so that the bottom electrodes of the plurality of light-emitting units 130 are not connected to each other. In the process of forming the bottom electrodes, the excess bottom electrode material does not need to be removed by etching process, and the next process of the light-emitting functional layer 132 can be directly performed after the bottom electrodes are deposited on the whole surface, thereby reducing the influence of the etching process on the bottom electrodes. In particular, when the bottom electrode includes active metal material, the problems of oxidation and residue of the active metal in the etching process are avoided, the film layer interface between the bottom electrode and the light-emitting functional layer 132 is improved, the light-emitting efficiency of the light-emitting unit 130 is improved, and the display effect of the display panel 100 is improved. In the embodiment, the partition lower portion 142 of the partition structure 140 is formed of insulating material, so that the lower portion of the partition structure 140 has high insulation performance, so that when the bottom electrodes are deposited on the whole surface, even if the evaporation angle is not controlled, the bottom electrode material will not be electrically connected when it contacts the partition lower portion 142. The bottom electrodes of the two adjacent light-emitting units 130 are insulated by the partition lower portion 142. Moreover, by controlling the evaporation angle of the bottom electrode material, the bottom electrode material is as little as possible to contact the partition lower portion 142, and the insulation characteristics of the partition lower portion 142 prevent the electrical crosstalk between the bottom electrodes of the adjacent light-emitting units 130.

[0071] Before S120, the method further includes: forming a driving circuit layer on the substrate, the driving circuit layer including a plurality of thin film transistors and driving lines, the thin film transistors and the driving lines forming a driving circuit for driving the plurality of light-emitting units to emit light. In the process of forming the driving circuit layer, the thin film transistor corresponding to the light-emitting unit is further provided with a via hole for connecting the cathode auxiliary electrode between the thin film transistor and the cathode of the light-emitting unit.

[0072] In the step of S120, the method further includes the step of:

[0073] S121: depositing a cathode auxiliary electrode material on the substrate, and patterning to form a cathode auxiliary electrode in the opening region;

[0074] S122: depositing and patterning to form a pixel definition layer on the cathode auxiliary electrode, the cathode auxiliary electrodes of two adjacent light emitting units are separated by the pixel definition layer, and a plurality of opening regions are formed, and the cathode auxiliary electrode is exposed from the opening region.

[0075] In this embodiment, after the process of the driving circuit layer 150 is completed, the cathode auxiliary electrode 134 is formed in the opening region 101, and the cathode auxiliary electrode 134 is connected to the output end of the thin film transistor at the via position of the driving circuit layer 150, so as to realize voltage control of the cathode 133.

[0076] In an embodiment, the step of S150 comprises:

[0077] S151: depositing the light emitting functional layer material on the whole surface, and separating the light emitting functional layer of two adjacent light emitting units by the separation structure;

[0078] S152: depositing an anode to form a plurality of light emitting units.

[0079] In this scheme, the light emitting functional layer 132 of the light emitting unit 130 is formed by the separation structure 140, and the light emitting functional layer 132 can include an electron injection layer 1324, an electron transport layer 1321, a hole blocking layer 1325, a light emitting layer 1322, an electron blocking layer 1326, a hole transport layer 1323 and a hole injection layer 1327 arranged in sequence from the cathode 133 to the anode 131. In the process of forming the anode 131, the anode 131 of each opening region 101 can be connected by the conductive separation upper portion 141 to form the anode 131 arranged on the whole surface.

[0080] Figure 8 is a schematic diagram of the display device of the present application, referring to Figure 7 It is shown that the present application also discloses a display device, which comprises a driving circuit 210 and the display panel 100 of any one of the above embodiments, wherein the driving circuit 210 is used to drive the display panel 100 to display.

[0081] It should be noted that the inventive concept of the present application can form a very large number of embodiments, but the length of the application file is limited, and therefore, under the premise of not conflicting, the above-described embodiments or technical features can be combined to form new embodiments, and the combination of each embodiment or technical feature will enhance the original technical effect.

[0082] The above are further detailed descriptions of the present application in connection with specific optional embodiments. The present application is not limited to these descriptions. For ordinary skilled people in the art, some simple deductions or replacements made without departing from the spirit of the present application should be considered as falling within the scope of protection of the present application.

Claims

1. A method for manufacturing a display panel, characterized in that, The method comprises the steps of: providing a substrate; forming a pixel definition layer on the substrate and patterning the pixel definition layer to form a plurality of opening regions; forming a partition structure on the pixel definition layer; depositing a bottom electrode material on the entire surface, the partition structure being used to partition the bottom electrodes of two adjacent light emitting units; forming a light emitting functional layer and a top electrode in the opening regions in sequence to form a plurality of light emitting units; wherein the partition structure comprises a partition upper portion and a partition lower portion, the partition upper portion is arranged on the partition lower portion, and the radial width of the partition upper portion is greater than the radial width of the partition lower portion, the bottom electrode and the light emitting functional layer are made in the same vacuum environment; the light emitting direction of the light emitting unit is from the top electrode to the bottom electrode; the top electrode is an anode, and the bottom electrode is a cathode; the light emitting functional layer comprises an electron transport layer, a light emitting layer, and a hole transport layer, the electron transport layer is arranged on the cathode, the light emitting layer is arranged on the electron transport layer, the hole transport layer is arranged on the light emitting layer, and the anode is arranged on the hole transport layer; the display panel further comprises a cathode auxiliary electrode, the cathode auxiliary electrode is formed of a transparent metal oxide material, the cathode auxiliary electrode is arranged below the cathode and is electrically connected with the cathode; the cathode auxiliary electrodes of two adjacent light emitting units are separated by the pixel definition layer.

2. The manufacturing method of a display panel according to claim 1, wherein the partition lower portion is formed of an insulating material, the insulating material comprises one or more of silicon oxide, silicon nitride, or silicon oxynitride; the partition upper portion is formed of a metal material, the metal material comprises one or more of aluminum, copper, molybdenum, and titanium.

3. The manufacturing method of a display panel according to claim 1, wherein the partition lower portion is formed of an insulating material, the insulating material comprises one or more of silicon oxide, silicon nitride, or silicon oxynitride; the partition lower portion is used to insulate the bottom electrodes of two adjacent light emitting units; wherein in each opening region, the end of the bottom electrode is covered by the light emitting functional layer, and the light emitting functional layer is used to separate the end of the bottom electrode from the end of the top electrode.

4. The manufacturing method of a display panel according to claim 3, wherein the partition upper portion is formed of a metal material, the metal material comprises one or more of aluminum, copper, molybdenum, and titanium; the partition upper portion is used to connect the top electrodes of two adjacent light emitting units.

5. The manufacturing method of a display panel according to claim 4, wherein the thickness of the bottom electrode is greater than or equal to 100 angstrom and less than or equal to 300 angstrom; the thickness of the partition lower portion is between 0.05um and 0.2um, and the thickness of the partition upper portion is between 0.03um and 0.1um; on the side of the partition structure close to the opening region, the distance between the partition upper portion and the partition lower portion is between 0.1um and 1um.

6. The method of manufacturing a display panel according to claim 1, wherein the bottom electrode is a light-transmitting electrode and is formed of one or both of magnesium material and silver material; the top electrode is formed of a reflective metal material, and the top electrode is shared by a plurality of light emitting units.

7. The method of manufacturing a display panel according to claim 1, wherein the partition structure is also used to partition the light emitting functional layer and the cathode of two adjacent light emitting units when the light emitting functional layer is deposited on the entire surface; in each opening region, the cathode covers the light emitting functional layer, and the end of the cathode also contacts the partition lower portion.

Images